A Homunculus Is Fine, Too!
by DezoPenguin
Summary: Or at least that's the message that Amoretta is trying to get across in this omake collection...
1. Daybreak

_A/N: The title of this omake collection comes from a meme in the Nasuverse fandom, this particular variation of the "An X is fine, too" usually applying to Ilya. Further installments to follow basically whenever the whim happens to strike me._

~X X X~

Amoretta Virgine was a very special homunculus.

Like all creations of artificial life, homunculi were flawed existences. The magic of alchemy did not perfectly command the fundamental energies of life. The biological mechanics of the body, the nature of the intellect, these were still mysterious matters not completely penetrated. The secrets of the soul were but a thing barely glimpsed. For a homunculus, the "spark of life" that animated them was not self-sustaining, but depended upon an ongoing magical reaction within a specially constructed flask. Most homunculi could not even leave their flask, resulting in the rather cute picture of catlike creatures with upside-down bottles over their heads waddling around on feet that poked out of the flask's neck.

Amoretta was quite different. Though the flask sustained her life the same way as for any homunculus, she was able to move around separate from it, and her body was shaped like and largely similar to a human's. This was because her creator, Chartreuse Grande, had not truly built her from scratch, but instead had incorporated a pre-existing spirit to serve as the core of her existence, fulfilling the function that a soul did for a normal person.

He'd gone one step beyond merely hijacking a used soul into his pet project, though. The spirit that he'd chosen wasn't human. Indeed, it wasn't even mortal, but an angel. Amoretta often wondered if this had something to do with the disconnect she'd felt from her own life in her early days. A normal person's soul is created together with their body and enters existence hand-in-hand with it. But Amoretta's soul, even though her _mind_ couldn't access them, held the memories of perhaps eons of a spiritual existence completely alien to her new life.

It had all left her very confused. Angels are sometimes referred to as androgynous, because as spiritual existences they lack the biology of sexual reproduction, having no more use for such a thing than an amoeba. But now she had a mortal, physical body made from Adam's rib—that is to say, female (though no more capable of reproduction than the angel had been), a body weak to the temptations of the flesh that came with a mortal existence. Temptations that, she'd found, a homunculus could suffer as freely from as a human.

All of which was really just a long-winded way of stating that Amoretta had awakened that morning feeling positively horny.

This was not a problem that was without a solution, because Amoretta's specialness among homunculi wasn't just in what she _was_, but in what she _had_. As an artificial existence, she needed love, quite literally, to sustain herself, being divorced from God's creations. Dr. Chartreuse had not loved her, so she was ecstatic when she'd met Lillet Blan, who could and did give her that love. Amoretta was nearly as happy to be able to return that love, so that there was a genuine bond between the two of them. To Amoretta, love was love; its particular form was just a secondary matter, so she'd been content to let Lillet define the nature of that relationship. Amoretta would have been no less fulfilled and happy had the two of them been friends-as-close-as-sisters, lifelong platonic companions. Only they weren't, since Lillet preferred a somewhat different definition.

Which was a nearly-as-long-winded way of observing that a nineteen-year-old Royal Magician, blonde and violet-eyed with a roses-and-cream complexion and a figure that had undergone some really interesting changes during the past year was sleeping with her head on the next pillow, the thin linen of her nightgown the only thing separating the curve of her derriere from Amoretta's hip.

Some problems were complex and difficult; others had extremely obvious answers,

Amoretta rolled over on her side, slipping her arm around Lillet's waist. She leaned in close, so that her face was snuggled up against the side of the sleeping girl's head.

"Lillet," she purred throatily, her lips just brushing against her lover's ear, the warmth of her breath tickling at the delicate skin. "Lillet, it's time to wake up." Her fingertips traced patterns over Lillet's belly, gently teasing her through the nightgown. A shiver ran through the girl's body, making Amoretta smile. "Lillet, darling..."

"Ern...mm..." Lillet murmured, her eyelids fluttering. "Am...oret...ta?" she managed to get out, her voice still thick with sleep.

"It's time to wake up, Lillet," Amoretta repeated. "You have something important to do this morning." Her teeth gently teased at Lillet's earlobe, before she moved down to the side of her lover's neck, gently nibbling, letting herself taste the sweetness of Lillet's skin.

"Ah!" Lillet gasped, then giggled at the tickling sensation. "I need to...do what?" Her eyes then fell on the wall clock. "Oh!" she exclaimed, sitting bolt upright so fast that she jerked right out of Amoretta's embrace. "That's right! I have that meeting with Master Freixenet about setting up a research group for establishing a set of grimoires that might be used by magicians working with the City Watch." She whirled around, bent over, and gave Amoretta a quick kiss on the lips. "Thanks so much for getting me up early, little love; I'd have overslept without you!"

She leapt out of bed and was darting towards the bureau to get her clothes when a thought struck her, and she turned back,

"Amoretta, how did you know that I wanted to get up early? I don't remember telling you about the meeting?"

Amoretta just sighed and let her face drop into the pillow.


	2. Midday

Generally, a magician with quarters in the Royal House of Magic did not have a family. It was unusual enough that Lillet had an elf servant of her own, Gaff, but he was easily enough brought into the staff. A young magician's room and board stipend generally covered one person in palace quarters, not two, though, so those with families generally had their own house, or would pay for the extra person (or people, if there were children or private servants were also required). Coming from humble origins, Lillet didn't have the savings to pay for a family's upkeep, and she was using the extra money from her own salary to save for her younger brothers to attend school.

They got around this problem because Amoretta, unlike other homunculi, could use human magic. It was probably due to her angel core—greater devils, for example, could use magic and were or had been spawned from the fallen angels. Therefore, Amoretta had been admitted in her own right to the Royal House of Magic as an apprentice. Her nearly eidetic memory made her quite useful in this capacity. Therefore, while Lillet was at her morning meeting, Amoretta soon found herself working in the alchemy lab, assisting Mistress Livingston with her experiments.

Experiments which seemed entirely focused upon the transfer and interaction of a variety of viscous fluids.

This did not, as might be expected, make for a pleasant morning. She did not make any mistakes, thankfully, but watching clear fluids slowly flow out of a retort to drip, drip, drip into a flask was not easy on the homunculus. When her hoped-for encounter with Lillet had not turned out as planned, Amoretta had resolved to take it philosophically, set her physical desires aside, and get on with the day.

It was very hard to do that when the day appeared to be investing every task with a variety of sexual metaphors.

She made it back to their room a bit before lunchtime, with the experiment complete and a clawing ache between her legs.

This, she decided, called for strategy.

Amoretta changed her clothes first, removing the fairly utilitarian dress she wore for her apprentice's duties and donning one with a corset-like top that left a great deal of cleavage on display and a skirt that fell only to mid-thigh. It was a garment that was supposed to be worn over a blouse and hose for a layered effect. Amoretta didn't bother with the blouse and hose. Instead, she put on a pair of boots, thigh-high, tall-heeled black leather ones that resembled her favorites that she'd worn at the Silver Star Tower except for their height. The heels served to accentuate the curve of her hips, and the band of creamy flesh between the boot-tops and the hem of the skirt drew the eye immediately. Elbow-length kid gloves left her neck, shoulders, and a goodly portion of her upper chest bare; the whisper of her own hair across her skin as she moved made her flesh tingle and her imagination conjure up what Lillet's own long, blonde hair would feel like as it brushed against her.

She gripped the back of the nearest chair and had to take a deep breath to steady herself. It was, she decided, all too easy to understand how the temptations of the flesh and the sin of lust could lead a person down the wrong path. It made Amoretta very thankful that she had a genuine lover to share those feelings with, someone to love and be loved by, so that even the most enthusiastically creative carnal acts were nonetheless done in the spirit of shared intimacy and celebration of the deeper feelings between them.

On the other hand, true love actually made her fleshly temptations a bit _worse_ in one respect. The lack of any sense of guilt or shame about those feelings meant that there was that much less of a sense of restraint, of a reason to hold back. Only the circumstances of time, place, and Lillet's own feelings gave Amoretta any reason to pause. And it was eminently more difficult to go without something that was unreservedly good as opposed to something that had up and down sides.

She checked the clock. It was quarter past twelve, just about the time when Lillet usually came back for luncheon, unless they'd planned to eat in the Royal House of Magic's dining hall. While the apprentices usually ate there, as often as not the Royal Magicians didn't, since they'd be busy with projects of one kind or another much of the time. And Lillet enjoyed dining with Amoretta _en famille_, as it were.

...Even if this time, Amoretta intended for it to be more of an _en dishabille_ meal. And it offered opportunities, besides, she thought, imagining herself licking honey off of Lillet's—

A knock at the door interrupted the homunculus in the midst of her salacious imaginings.

"Come in."

The door swung open and Gaff pushed in a cart bearing several covered dishes as well as the plates, glass, and cutlery for a place setting.

_One_ place setting.

"Gaff, why is there only lunch for one here?"

"Huh? Oh, I guess you wouldn't know, would you. Here, Lillet handed me this to give you."

The elfin boy handed over a folded piece of paper; Amoretta opened it and read the note.

_Sorry I can't make it to lunch, little love. We got into a real debate over the proper use of battle magic with General Amstel and we're probably going to be at it well into the afternoon. I had Gaff get some of your favorite cherry pie with whipped cream as an apology, though I'll miss watching you smile while you eat it. Miss you!_

_Love,_

_Lillet_

Gaff was busy setting Amoretta's place at the table.

"So I guess she's not going to be able to make it. It's too bad; I'll bet all those big-shots she's stuck with won't even stop to have lunch, they're so busy with all their plans and charts and things. For a bunch of smart people, magicians really can be pretty dumb about taking care of themselves properly."

"That's true."

"I don't even think she had breakfast this morning, and you know how she is about that," Gaff continued, oblivious to the fact that Amoretta would rather have done without any reminders of how Lillet had had to rush out early that morning. After he set the lunch dishes out on the table, he paused and took a longer look at her. "Is that a new outfit? I don't think I've seen it before."

"It's not exactly new, just differently mixed from other ones."

"Oh, okay. Well, whatever it is, it looks pretty. I'm sure Lillet would really like to see you in it."

Amoretta pressed her palm to her face with a groan.


	3. Afternoon

The Royal Palace was a large, sprawling complex in the heart of the capital. It had not been designed according to a fixed plan, but had rather grown up organically over the course of several centuries, being added to or occasionally subtracted from as need or chance provided. There were therefore a number of towers, passages, gates, outbuildings, and courtyards set in odd places without any apparent rhyme or reason.

One particular small, triangular courtyard—little more than a gap formed where walls met at an odd angle—was a place of which Lillet and Amoretta were particularly fond. Maybe there was some sentimental connection to how they'd made up after a serious fight there once, or perhaps the seclusion it offered combined with the natural attraction of the maple tree in the center just suited them. For whatever reason, it was a place that the two young women liked to use to sit and talk together, or just to snuggle up close on one of the stone benches and hold hands.

Romance, however, was not on Amoretta's mind. Or rather, it was, since there was no mistaking that the rendezvous she was planning was in fact one rooted in love and affection, the feelings that delivered many bouquets to many women throughout the year. It was just the expression of that love that was different. She did not intend for quiet reminiscences, or for chaste kisses on the hand.

No, chastity definitely played no part in her intentions.

Having been put off in the morning and thwarted at noon, the homunculus had decided that she needed to stop relying upon chance and expectation to get herself what she wanted, which was Lillet Blan out of her clothes and sobbing in ecstasy. The fundamental problem that she had to undress—_address_, she corrected herself, biting her lip—was that she had to be prepared for seduction. She could not simply _hope_ that Lillet would be in the right place at the right time. _Hoping_ was the emotion that had gotten her standing there at almost four o'clock with her mind consumed by images of a lithely curved blonde leaning forward with hands pressed against the wall, skirts bunched above her waist, looking back over her shoulder with a sultry invitation in her violet eyes...

The point being, if Amoretta wanted to spend a passionate hour, or two, or three (it varied, but had been getting steadily longer in her mind as the day wore on) with Lillet, she couldn't just wait for the opportunity to do so to drop into her lap. That simply wasn't good enough. Just because they were in an existing, committed relationship didn't mean that she could sit back and let things happen as they happened. While her personal experience was limited to what she'd seen in others, the mistakes people made appeared to be that they spent all kinds of time and effort on the courtship and very little on what came after.

In other words, if Amoretta wanted an opportunity to seduce Lillet, she was just going to have to make one.

Which was why she was standing in this courtyard. A courtyard which did not have any overlooking windows. A courtyard which was surrounded by very thick stone walls and heavy, iron-banded wooden doors. Doors, moreover, to which Amoretta had secured possession of the keys. A courtyard, therefore, which was as functionally private as the room Amoretta and Lillet shared.

Amoretta knew that Lillet had an affection for seeing her body by firelight, the orange glow painting her skin bronze. But she herself liked to see Lillet by the light of the sun, which brought out the rosy glow of her peaches-and-cream complexion and made her hair shine like a golden waterfall where the sun caught the highlights.

When the invitation she'd sent brought Lillet there, Amoretta was sure that she'd be able to treat herself to that. She had confidence, after all, in her ability to seduce her lover when the circumstances allowed. That wasn't ego, just the logical conclusion brought about from three years' experiences. It was making the chance that presented the greatest obstacle.

The bell of the Palace clock chimed four times, echoing down through the sky, and not five seconds later one of the courtyard doors swung open to admit Lillet.

"Hi, Amoretta!"

Amoretta's heart lit up at the sight of her beloved. She really did dislike to be separated from Lillet; even the few hours apart required by their various duties each day was annoying. It was part of her homunculus nature, she understood, the need to be with the person who was the source of the love that quite literally sustained her sanity and existence.

That Lillet understood and wasn't bothered by a need for closeness that in a human would have been abnormal, even obsessive, was one of the many things Amoretta adored about her. It would have been all too easy for her to grow tired and frustrated with Amoretta's clinging to her, but Lillet had never protested or complained.

The surge of emotion at seeing Lillet, therefore, didn't _just_ come from Amoretta's aching loins. Maybe not even primarily.

That, as it turned out, was a very good thing.

"Oh, Amoretta, how are you? I haven't seen you in a couple of days."

The voice emerged from behind Lillet. A moment later, a woman who looked to be perhaps five years or so older than the blonde magician (though in reality, it was more like forty-five) emerged from the relative darkness of the hallway into the sunlit courtyard.

"Good afternoon, Mistress Artois," Amoretta said politely. She had, after all, learned _some_ things about being tactful, and wasn't sure that the elder magician deserved to be a victim of her ire.

"I'm sorry that I missed lunch," Lillet said, apparently feeling that explanations were in order. _Which they are_, Amoretta thought. "Magic is very powerful in battle, but it's not really certain how it can best be integrated into mass combat for tactical effect."

"Or if it even should be," Stella Artois put in. "It's one thing to be ready to help defend the kingdom against magical threats like the Archmage, but quite another to begin deliberately integrating magicians into the regular standing army. For magicians to become viewed as instruments of royal tyranny just defeats the purpose of trying to fit our craft into normal society."

"I still believe you're overstating things. The Queen isn't a tyrant, and neither are her sons."

"I agree with that. But tell me, Mistress Blan, do you trust the Chamberlain, the Grand Council, and the noble lords the same way? Royal power is royal power, even if it's delegated."

"Excuse me," Amoretta put in, "but while I understand the ethical complexities of the issue, what I do not see is how it relates to why Mistress Artois has joined us."

"Oh, well, we were still discussing the point when I got your message saying you wanted to see me," Lillet said, "and I realized that since we hadn't been together all day you were probably getting uncomfortable, so I wanted to make time for you. But we were still in the middle of our debate, so I thought Mistress Artois and I could keep working on our opinion. Master Freixenet doesn't want to report back until we have some kind of consensus for the Royal Magicians. Besides, you're really good at ethical problems, Amoretta. I thought you might be able to offer some input on our position."

Touched as she was that Lillet would take time out of her schedule to satisfy her need for close contact, Amoretta still couldn't help but murmur sourly, "I was more than ready to offer input on a completely different position" under her breath.


	4. Evening

Amoretta's afternoon did not improve. Getting to spend two hours in Lillet's company had refreshed her in one way, snuffed out those first hints of the creeping, hollow sensation that plagued her when they were separated for too long. But what sated one hunger did nothing but make the other one worse. Mistress Artois was no help at all; she showed no sign of being aware that she'd interrupted a romantic rendezvous, and in an uncharitable moment Amoretta had the thought that she probably wouldn't care if she _did_ know.

However, since shoving the Royal Magician out the door, locking it behind her, and then shoving Lillet up _against_ that door and driving all thoughts of politics, military maneuvers, and magical ethics out before a tidal wave of passion wasn't a viable option, she was forced to watch as the two magicians rose to take their leave.

"Thanks for all your help, Amoretta," Lillet told her. "I really think we've got a few good arguments to suggest to Master Freixenet. We're going to reconvene our discussions at six-thirty, though, so we really need to get going." She hung her head, then added, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to miss dinner as well."

"Lillet, you need to eat something," Amoretta chided.

"They'll be sending up refreshments," Lillet assured her, then grinned. "We magicians like our creature comforts, after all, when we're not getting too distracted."

_I just wish that it was me who was the distraction!_

"All right; I'll see you this evening, then."

"Thanks, little love. I'm sorry that I've been running around busy so much today."

Amoretta didn't answer, mainly because she didn't trust herself to respond to it without saying things that Mistress Artois really didn't need to hear. She probably should have tried to come up with something, though, because Lillet took her hands, then leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss.

It was just a peck, a gentle brushing of Lillet's lips against her own, but in her hyper-sensitive state it sent a thrill running through her, sharp and electric. Her belly clenched as the sheer _need_ clawed at her, and it took every bit of willpower she had to keep from reaching up and embracing Lillet, deepening the kiss. She wanted to—_oh_, she wanted to—but she knew that if she did, a taste wouldn't be enough. She would take Lillet in her arms, plunder her lips, drink deeply of her, tear at her clothing, slide her hands beneath fabric to the silken softness beneath.

Then Lillet would have to make her stop, and that would embarrass them both. Or she _wouldn't_ make her stop, and that would be a different kind of embarrassment, one with negative consequences for Lillet's status as a Royal Magician. And given that Lillet _did_ have important business to attend to, putting that aside wouldn't be an act of love, but of indulgence.

So Amoretta fought down the craving within her, letting their lips part with a soft glide of skin on skin, and watched Lillet follow Mistress Artois out the door.

She took a few minutes to compose herself, so she wasn't trembling with need any more...at least, not _literally _trembling any more. Then, since that particular hunger wasn't going to be satisfied any time soon, she decided that she had might as well satiate a different one.

The idea of being alone was too much to stomach just then, so instead of asking Gaff to bring up dinner as he had lunch, she went to the dining hall. The clink of plates and cutlery and the hubbub of conversation filled the room, echoed off the high, arched ceiling and warmed her to the simple joy of human contact. She made her way towards the apprentices' tables and looked for a familiar face.

As it turned out, hers was the familiar face that someone else found.

"Amoretta! Over here!"

She looked up and saw a round-faced brunette with a waist-length braid waving to her. Since there was an empty space next to the girl, she went over and slipped into the seat on the bench.

"Wow, it's pretty rare to see you here at dinner. And when you do show up, you're usually over at the magicians' tables with Mistress Blan. Which sorts of stands to reason, but it still makes it really unusual to see you." Marne Labatt's voice was like her, chirpy and upbeat.

"Lillet is busy in a conference with several of the other Royal Magicians," Amoretta explained.

"Yeah, there's some big thing going on with some of the military top brass," said the male apprentice sitting across from Marne. Amoretta hadn't seen Stefan in several weeks, and it looked like his hair hadn't been trimmed in that time; it was hanging loose and ragged to brush his shoulders. "I had three different projects get cancelled on me this afternoon."

"Me, too," Marne added, grinning. "It's nice to get a day off when you don't expect it."

"Well, then," chimed in another voice, "you should be well-rested to pass the chicken to those of us who _did_ have to work this afternoon."

The speaker was a boy with coppery-red hair and green eyes. He took the seat opposite Amoretta, and a girl slid in beside him. They shared the same coloration, the same dusting of freckles across the nose, and even the same square-framed, steel-rimmed spectacles.

"So," the freckled girl asked, "who's the new face?"

"Oh, she's not new. This is Amoretta Virgine. She's Mistress Blan's, well..."

"Lover," Amoretta finished for Marne. She never could understand why people had such trouble saying simple things sometimes. Marne blushed in embarrassment, which was just more confusing, since she hadn't even been the one to say it.

Of course, saying it was a little bit uncomfortable for Amoretta, too, just not in the same way.

"Oho!" the red-haired boy exclaimed, grinning broadly. "A forbidden teacher-student romance! Nights of decadent passion where she shows you all kinds of perverse things learned over decades of life, a good mentor properly seeing to your education!"

His (presumed) sister hit him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Nice try, Karon. Mistress Blan is the one who's our age, remember?"

Karon blinked.

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

"And it's not a teacher-student romance, either," Stefan put in. "They're just lovers. The fact that Amoretta's an apprentice has nothing to do with it."

"What, so it's just an ordinary romance, then? You people are absolutely no fun."

Amoretta managed, somehow, to put aside the mental image of a Lillet in her thirties standing over her while she lay on her back, nude, in the center of a Rune whose pulsing green glow sent surges of pleasure through her at every rise and fall of its light.

"Why do you want Lillet and my romance to be a forbidden one?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"What else would be interesting about a love affair without any guys in it?" Karon laughed.

"Can't argue with that," his sister agreed. "True love is great for the people in it and a complete yawn for everyone else. Oh, and it's nice to meet you, Amoretta. I'm Kelce Lauder and my twin here is Karon. We're in Necromancy."

"I work with Alchemy; that must be why I've never met you."

"That and we've only been here three months. We got lucky when Master Oporto was appointed as a Royal Magician; we were students at the Magical Society branch where he worked, and he needed a couple of apprentices, so...here we are."

"So Master Oporto wasn't at the conference because he's too new?" Stefan guessed. "That's why you guys didn't get the afternoon off?"

"No, he was there, but so were we. With all those magicians, ministers, and officers, they needed some readily available flunkies to handle the fetching, carrying, hanging up and taking down charts, and all the other things important people are too busy being important to do."

"I'd sympathize, but I was too busy having fun all afternoon," Marne joked.

"It wasn't all bad, though. We got to listen in on some pretty interesting stuff. _And_ we got to meet that _really cute_ colonel with the long hair and the _fine_ rear aspect. Who, I might add, found me pretty interesting as well."

"Dream on, brother," Kelce put in. "He was definitely checking me out."

"On the contrary, he was definitely winking at me."

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"You'll have to forgive them, Amoretta. Those two are always like this when there's a good-looking guy around." He paused, a thought hitting him. "Hey, howcome neither of you ever hit on _me_? Wait, don't answer that. I think I'd rather not know."

Marne reached across and patted him on the head.

"There, there, Stefan, we still like you."

"Perhaps your colonel likes women as well as men, and was flirting with both of you?"

"Ooh, and was looking for a mixed-twins threesome?" Kelce said in that tone of voice that suggested that she really wanted to be offended by the idea but was too intrigued to muster up the emotion.

Karon, for his part, just grinned at the homunculus.

"You've got a kinky turn of mind, Amoretta."

"Not that it's doing me any good today," she sighed.


End file.
